My Homeschool Plans for This Year

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On: September 22, 2026

In this blog post, Jenny Phillips talks openly about a time when she had one of her hardest homeschool years ever and the changes she made for the following school year. Find out why her new plan and schedule helped give her a positive outlook, and how she dealt with guilt, and much more!

Why Do I Homeschool?

To meet the needs of my children
To be a positive influence in my children’s lives
To help my children grow in character, faith, and knowledge
To allow my children to explore their interests
To spend quality time with my children

A school-aged girl sitting on her mom's lap as they read a book together | The Good and the Beautiful

Editor's Note: This video reflects on a previous school year. Jenny’s reflections and advice remain helpful to all homeschooling parents who are in need of encouragement.

My Homeschool Plans for This Year
I am in my office today, and this is where so much of The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts is actually created! This desk is also where I do language arts with my nine-year-old right now. We have a homeschool room, and you’ve seen it in other videos, but right now, he needs a quiet room with no distractions when I do language arts with him.

We Homeschooled This Summer

I don’t know about you guys, but this summer just flew by for my family, and we actually ended up homeschooling this summer. We did take off some time here and there, but I’m going to be totally honest with you and tell you that we probably had one of the hardest homeschool years ever this past year. I’ll share about that in a little bit in this post, and I’ll also share about what changes I’m going to make this year to help our homeschool go better.

Right now, we are taking a week break completely off from schooling, and then we are starting our new homeschool year. So, I thought I would share my plans for this new year. I’m really excited for a fresh start, and I hope you are too. I have five children, and two of them are no longer homeschooled because they are adults. They are 23 and 21. So right now, I’m homeschooling a 16-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a 9-year-old, and it is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Homeschooling Can Be Hard—But Incredibly Rewarding

In all honesty, even though I have been homeschooling for quite a long time, it can still be really hard, and I still have to figure things out and make adjustments to meet the needs of my children and the changes in our lives.

But that really is one of the greatest blessings of homeschool as well. I’m so close to my children and their hearts, and I feel enabled to be able to influence their lives and to help them gain the character, the faith, and the type of knowledge that I know will bring them joy and fullness in their lives.

Our Homeschool Structure

Over the years we’ve done a lot of different things for homeschooling. I released a video this summer on how we used to homeschool with another family. We did that quite a bit, but at times we have also homeschooled with just our family and no other groups.

We’ve spent the most time in our homeschooling journey doing what we did this past year, and what we’re doing this upcoming year. And that is combining homeschooling with just our family on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and going to a homeschool group that we run on Mondays and Wednesdays.

I’ll dig into the specifics of our schedule for this coming year. Our homeschool group has 35 families, and I love it, but this last year, I taught too much at the homeschool group and ran too much of it myself. Also, at home, we didn’t stick to a schedule, and I didn’t intentionally plan my homeschool like I have in years past. And because of that, we didn’t get as much accomplished, and we didn’t plan outings or adventures like we had in other school years.

Sticking to a Schedule

I have found that I am so busy that I really need to have a homeschool schedule and stick to it. It makes me feel better, and it didn’t work very well to just fit in homeschool here and there.

In our really successful years, I would actually set alarms on my phone for my homeschool, and no matter what, I would just jump up and put everything else aside and homeschool when that alarm went off.. My children could feel the difference, knowing that I was devoted to them during that time.

Consistency is Key in Homeschool
Looking ahead to this coming school year, I’m excited because I have seen that consistency can really make things go more smoothly, and that my children thrive on routine. My plan is to follow this schedule.

Jenny Phillips’s Homeschool Schedule

Monday/Wednesday

9:45 am–3:00 pm: Homeschool Group

Tues/Thurs/Friday

9:00 am: Chores and personal Bible study for all kids

9:30 am: Morning Meeting

10:00–12:30 pm: Language Arts, Math, Handwriting, Typing

12:30–1:00 pm: Lunch

1:00 pm–2:00 pm: Reading and Electives

In our homeschool group, my kids do music appreciation, life skills, science, history, and drama. They also have a study hall where they work on math and language arts.

Morning Meetings

You can see that we start with a morning meeting. This is something we didn’t do this past year very much, and I wish we had. Morning meeting is where we all get together as a family and pray, sing, work on Bible verse memorization or a specific quote, and then I read aloud to the kids and we discuss the book we’re reading.

I’m so excited to jump into reading books with my kids again in the morning to start off our school. My kids love to cuddle up on the sheepskin in front of our fireplace while I read.

Mistakes Motivate Me and Turn Me to God

Even though our homeschool was not the best this past year, I don’t let guilt get me down. I try to let it humble me and move me to ask God for forgiveness and help. I let it motivate me and actually excite me to do better.

Last Year’s Homeschool Triumphs

There were some really good things that happened in our homeschool this past year as well. We still had so much fun diving into good books correlated with our curriculum, and we learned so much with The Good and the Beautiful curriculum.

We also continued many of the routines that have made our homeschool so special every year.

Reading at Night
Many nights my husband reads to our two younger boys in the hallway between their rooms. He has been doing this for years and years, and he actually told me recently that this reading to our children at night has been one of the highlights of his life.
After my husband reads to our kids, the kids read good literature in bed for a long time, even an hour or an hour and a half, and that is when they get in their personal reading time. So bedtime is actually part of our homeschool.

Time to Explore Interests

Also, homeschool has given us the blessings of time for my kids to explore their interests. For example, my nine-year-old son is amazingly good at painting and sculpting, and homeschool has allowed us the opportunity to have private lessons during the day with an amazing professional artist in our area.

My son is able to spend all day sometimes on his art—hours at a time—which is definitely not something that he could do if he was in school all day and had to come home and do homework into the evening hours.

Homeschool: Constantly Changing, Constantly Adapting

Great things really did happen this past year, but it was far from perfect. Many days, homeschool didn’t even happen when it should have, and thus, we’ve been homeschooling all summer to make up for it.

I think that most homeschoolers find that they are continually needing to adjust, refine, and improve how they’re doing homeschool. And just when I have things going really well, things change, and I have to get creative again and pray for inspiration.

Here are links to blog posts on how to organize a homeschool day if you’re looking for ideas on sample schedules.

Words of Encouragement
In closing, I want to leave you with some encouragement. I had some specific struggles with one of my children while homeschooling this past year, and I would pray and get inspiration, and things would go better for a bit, but then I would have to figure out a different approach. It was quite exhausting and overwhelming sometimes.
But I persisted, and I turned to God for help, and I gained so much creativity and received these little bits of inspiration on how to work through these problems.

Is Homeschool Worth It?
I have these moments when I suddenly realize that it is all worth it. Moments when I see my children progressing, and I feel myself progressing.
I realize that I am being refined, my patience is being deepened, and, through God’s help, I am connecting with my children and building beautiful relationships with them.
It doesn’t happen in a day, or a month, or a year, and the progress is slow and often feels pretty messy. I don’t always see this progress until I step back and realize that all the efforts are bearing fruit and will bear fruit throughout my children’s lives.

Our Love for Our Children Is Irreplaceable

As hard as some days are, especially when homeschooling children that have challenging needs, I don’t want to hand off that challenge to someone else.

“No one loves my children like I do. No one is as committed to my children and their growth. And even though it brings me to my knees, I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with these precious souls every day and to figure out how to best help and build our relationships. The work we do in our families is precious, irreplaceable, and simply beautiful.”
–Jenny Phillips

Frequently Asked Questions About Making Homeschool Plans

Is it okay to homeschool over the summer if we’re behind in homeschool?

Yes! If you have a hard time fitting everything into a traditional school year, or if things get busy, homeschooling during the summer is a wonderful option. The flexibility of homeschool is one of its greatest benefits and blessings.

Does homeschooling get any easier the longer you do it?

Even experienced homeschooling parents can still have really hard days. They have to figure things out and make adjustments to meet the needs of their children and the changes in their lives.

But that really is one of the greatest blessings of homeschool as well. Homeschooling parents can be close to their children and their hearts. They can feel enabled to be able to influence their lives and to help them gain the character, the faith, and the type of knowledge that will bring them joy and fullness in their lives.

How should I structure my homeschool week?

There are endless ways to schedule your homeschool week, but Jenny Phillips structures her homeschool week like this: She homeschools with just her family on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and they go to a homeschool group that she runs on Mondays and Wednesdays. On her family’s personal days, they do chores and personal Bible study at 9:00 am, a morning meeting at 9:30 am, language arts, math, handwriting, and typing from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, and reading and electives from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

How can I stay on schedule with homeschooling?

Having and sticking to a homeschool schedule helps both parents and children feel more productive. Fitting in homeschool here and there does not work well for most families. One helpful practice Jenny Phillips relies on is setting an alarm on her phone. “No matter what, I would just jump up and put everything else aside and homeschool. My children could feel the difference, knowing that I was devoted to them during that time.”

How should I start off our homeschool day?

Homeschooling families begin their days in many ways. Many families begin with a morning meeting. Morning meetings are a time when everyone gets together as a family and pray, sing, work on Bible verse memorization or a specific quote, and then share in a read aloud and discuss the book we’re reading.

Is homeschooling worth it?

Yes!

“As hard as some days are, especially when homeschooling children that have challenging needs, I don’t want to hand off that challenge to someone else. No one loves my children like I do. No one is as committed to my children and their growth. And even though it brings me to my knees, I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with these precious souls every day and to figure out how to best help and build our relationships. The work we do in our families is precious, irreplaceable, and simply beautiful.” –Jenny Phillips